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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28404054">the story will always end as a tragedy</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/arcanesupernova/pseuds/arcanesupernova'>arcanesupernova</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Always Have Been, Always Will Be - A Series of One-Shots [19]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hatchetfield Universe - Team StarKid</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, First time writing about Ted and his brother, Gen, No Dialogue, No I cannot keep charted out of things, backstory? Ig?, no happy ending, why do you ask?</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 16:34:34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,238</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28404054</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/arcanesupernova/pseuds/arcanesupernova</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Just a little thing about Ted and Ned (real name outstanding) Spankoffski</p><p>The name Ned came straight from the genius brain of shotacharlaton on tumblr! 💞💗💘💗</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Charlotte/Ted Spankoffski, Hot Chocolate Boy &amp; Ted Spankoffski</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Always Have Been, Always Will Be - A Series of One-Shots [19]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2099445</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>the story will always end as a tragedy</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>awigglycultist on tumblr wanted Ted and HCB as brother's content because. Well. WE ALL SAW THE GLANCE IN NIGHTMARE TIME ONE WHEN BILL MENTIONED TED'S NERDY KID BROTHER, ALRIGHT.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ted didn't think much of most people. Most people had a bad habit of disappointing him or proving that keeping his true self close to his chest was in his best interest. Most people didn't include his brother, Ned, however. Ever since his parents divorced and had equally decided they wanted nothing to do with the kid, Ted had taken care of him. Fifteen years younger than him and born from a less than ideal decision to drink too much on their anniversary, Ned was a scrawny kid with very low blood sugar. Ted was nineteen when his parents finally decided Kennedy Spankoffski was too much for them both to handle so it was up to Ted to make sure his brother was taken care of. Much of it was done through trial and error but Ted didn't care and Ned seemed happy to finally have someone to take care of him.<br/>
Ned was just starting high school when Ted finally started at CCRP. He had spent years working nights as he put himself through college to get his hands on the coveted entry-level position that required a degree in technical science. Ted climbed the ladder quickly, much of the thanks in part to his charming, albeit a touch slimy, personality that he used to charm every higher up he came in contact with. Finally, he had a job that he could spend his evenings with Ned rather than a quick check-up first thing in the morning before he went to class and another just before he passed out after work.<br/>
Ned loved his brother, he saw the work that Ted was doing to give him everything he wanted. When new sets for the trading card game he loved so dearly came out, Ted was able to deliver at least one box of booster packs and even helped him crack the packs. Once Ted had a nine to five job, he was finally able to sit down and learn the game he'd spent so much money on. Ned was just happy to have his brother there with him even if he did learn the game quicker than he expected and actually started beating him way more than Ned liked.<br/>
When Ted first met Charlotte, he didn't bring her around his place. Ned knew something was awry but never had enough evidence to properly bring the subject up. It wasn't until he was hidden in a booth at Beanie's that he saw his brother enter the coffee shop with a woman he didn't recognize. His smile and hands lingered longer with her and Ned resolved to keep his brother's secret. It wasn't any of his business as long as Ted was happy.<br/>
Ted got better at the card game, leading him to branch out to board games. Every paycheck Ted would stop at the hobby shop on his way home from work and pick up a new one. The two would stay up all night learning the new game, trying to find the best way to master it. When Ned finally made a friend at school, a quiet girl named Grace, she joined their game nights. Ted seemed to approve of the friendship, giving his brother ample time 'alone' with her. Ned didn't understand at first, but Grace did. On Ned's seventeenth birthday, her gift to him was his first kiss, much to Ted's delight.<br/>
Ted's love life, on the other hand, hadn't been going so well. Ned would hear the hushed arguments over the phone before Ted would excuse himself and leave for hours at a time. He wanted to ask, he wanted to know why his brother always came home far more upset than he'd been when he'd left but every time he broached the subject, Ted would clam up. He'd come up with a thousand excuses for not talking about it but he could tell his brother was heartbroken. He started to hate the woman he'd seen him with that afternoon at Beanie's, having no other face to direct his ire to.<br/>
It wasn't until Charlotte showed up unannounced at their doorstep that Ned finally got the full story. Charlotte was a friend from work that Ted had been seeing. It just so happened that she was married but it was apparently "fine" because her husband was sleeping around far more than she was. Ted explained it in the most delicate way possible but Ned could see the pain his brother denied so fervently. He tried to make her go away by cornering her at Beanie's when he caught her there alone but that only caused more problems it seemed. Her husband's mistress was the barista Ned had the least issue with and Charlotte was terrified that she would be found out.<br/>
The fight Ned and Ted had after his intervention was far worse than any heated debate over rules they'd ever had. Apparently, Charlotte wouldn't see him anymore, and apparently that wasn't as good of a thing as Ned thought it was. Ted told him that his life was none of his business and if he wanted to continue living under his roof then he would butt out. Both brothers regretted the harsh words that they'd flung at each other but neither could push past the anger and resentment to apologize. <br/>
A month passed before Charlotte was willing to see Ted again. His brother shot out of his room, sparing nothing more than a "don't wait up." before tearing out of the apartment. Peter called Grace, distraught over the lingering tension between him and his brother. Grace offered no real advice but offered to come over and keep him company while his brother was gone. Ned accepted and the two stayed up and watched a meteor storm fall over Hatchetfield, including one that landed right in the middle of the Starlight theater.<br/>
Grace left early the next morning, planting a kiss on his cheek and assuring him that she'd wait up for him before first period. Ned knew there was no way he was going to make it through the day without coffee so he grabbed his wallet and bookbag and made his way to Beanie's. The barista that also happened to be Charlotte's husband's mistress had a wider than usual smile on her face as she handed him his hot chocolate. The last thing he remembered was the first sip he took before he collapsed in the street. When he woke again, he spotted a girl singing to a nervous man going walking down the street. What could it hurt to join them?<br/>
Ted went to work the next morning more cheerful than he'd been in weeks. Charlotte told him that Sam hadn't found out about anything and they were in the clear. Ted let out the first sigh of relief in over a month and resolved to finally apologize to his brother. He was dismayed to find their apartment empty but figured it could wait. There would be time later.<br/>
That is until Charlotte started talking about her husband singing that morning in the shower. That is until Mr. Davidson kept calling people into his office and they kept coming out singing. That is, until he, Bill, and Charlotte were forced to flee from the office and hide in the dumpster.<br/>
That is until he saw Ned, singing, and dancing to his heart's content.<br/>
That is until Ted realized his brother was gone.</p>
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